A Handful of Memories
by The Wuzzy
Summary: Al, Rose, and Scorp: an unlikely group of friends! Scorpius had no idea he would be sorted into Gryffindor, become best friends with Albus Potter, and end up falling for Rose Weasley... Scorpius/Rose Collaboration with UltimateGryffindork
1. Year One:Chapter 1

**Hi everyone. :D This story was written as collaboration between me and UltimateGryffindork, please check out her work!**

**Enjoy, and don't forget to review.**

**A Handful of Memories**

First Year

It was the last day of August. A breeze whipped the hair and cloaks of the shoppers flocking Diagon Alley as a man with glasses, and a pretty red haired woman, led an excited eleven-year-old through the crowd. Despite the fact that they seemed to be a perfectly normal family - for wizards that is -heads turned and whispers followed them as they navigated their way into the Magical Menagerie.

The hustle and bustle of the street outside melted into the smell and squawks and squeaks of hundreds of furry, feathered and finned creatures as Harry Potter stepped into the shop.

"There are so many," breathed Albus, eyes shining at the assortment of animals as he followed his parents inside.

"Well, you've got lots of choice," smiled Ginny. She glanced around, and her gaze settled on a wire cage filled with custard coloured balls of fluff which were humming loudly. "Pygmy puffs!" she gasped. "Aren't they adorable? I used to have one, you know..." she added dreamily.

"Arnold," laughed Harry, placing a hand on her shoulder. "It was called Arnold."

"Arnold?" spluttered Albus "You can't call your pet _Arnold!_"

"Harry Potter! What an honour!" interrupted a voice. They turned to see a heavily bespectacled witch standing behind the counter. "How can I help you today, sir?"

"My son is looking for a pet, something suitable to take to Hogwarts, only he's not quite sure what he would like..."

The witch stared down at the black haired boy in front of her. "Why he's the spitting image of his father," she sighed. Albus scowled.

"Pygmy puffs are way more fun than they look," contributed Ginny.

"Mum," said Albus quietly. "No-one takes pygmy puffs to Hogwarts..."

"I did," she continued "and I survived perfectly fine. What do you have against them anyway? What has James been telling you?"

"They're not very...well..."

"How about a nice cat?" burst in the witch. "We have all breeds, colours..."

"Rose is taking Crookshanks," said Harry, grimacing. "Why Hermione ever-"

"Crookshanks?" asked the witch. "Not that huge, fluffy ginger - the one no one wanted, heaven knows why..."

"The very same" grinned Harry.

"Dad," said Albus suddenly. He seemed very determined about something. "Can I get an owl?"

The witch seemed disappointed. "Are you sure? Because I'm afraid we don't sell them, you'll have to go to Eeylops Owl Emporium."

"Are you sure you want an owl, Albus?" asked Harry.

"Yes" he nodded.

"Thank you for all your help," Harry told the witch.

"It was a pleasure," she said, slightly deflated.

"Wait a minute" said Ginny. "Before we go, how much are those pygmy puffs?"

The witch beamed.

**oOoOoOoOo**

"Well, that was successful," said Harry, surveying Albus' newly purchased books, parchment, cauldron, wand (maple and dragon heartstring, eleven and a half inches, pliable) and finally, a brown barn owl which hooted sleepily at its new, overjoyed owner.

"My owl's bigger than your owl."

"Be quiet James," said Ginny. Lily laughed as a newly purchased pair of fluff balls rolled around on the floor.

"What are you going to call him anyway?" continued James.

"Arnold," said Albus.

**oOoOoOoOo**

**Hope you enjoyed it, next chapter coming up soon. Don't forget to review!**


	2. Year One:Chapter 2

**Thanks to everyone for reading the first chapter :D Here's the next…**

**oOoOoOoOo**

The Hogwarts Express began its long journey from London, gradually picking up speed.

Albus lowered his hand slowly as his parents rapidly disappeared round the bend. He was on his way to Hogwarts now, where he'd be spending most of the next seven years of his life. It was totally scary, but he was also seriously excited. Soon, he'd be able to do magic properly, with his wand! Of course, he'd used magic before, he'd been using it since he was born, but at school it would seem more…official.

He was also going to miss his Mum and Dad. He was missing them already. He sighed.

"Missing Mum and Dad already, are we, lickle Al," said James from behind him, not entirely unkindly. He was, after all, only a year older, and knew exactly how Albus was feeling.

"No," said Albus, a little too quickly.

James laughed, and then stopped, as though biting back on a silly jibe. He screwed up his face and scowled. "If you really want you can come and sit with me and my friends," he muttered.

Al was surprised. "It's okay; I wouldn't want to ruin your badass reputation. I'll go find Rose."

James smiled, clearly relieved. "See you, wouldn't wanna be you!" he yelled, and dashed off through the rollicking carriage.

Albus grabbed his trunk, and Arnold's cage. Now he had to find somewhere to sit.

**oOoOoOoOo**

Rose walked nervously down through the carriages, trying not to get trampled by older students, and glancing into compartments in the hope that Albus would be in them. She felt sorry for the new muggleborn students who didn't know anyone yet –she, having lived in the wizarding community her whole life recognised a few students. And of course she already knew Victoire, Dominique, Lois, James, and obviously Albus, so she wasn't alone by any count. Suddenly, two tall boys raced past, laughing, and she toppled slightly, dropping her basket and spilling the contents – Crookshanks – onto the floor.

A strangled meow and hiss issued from under the cloth she'd gently tucked him under in the basket, which was now wrapped and tangled around his upper body.

"Oh, Crooky no – I'm so sorry!" she gasped, falling to her knees to retrieve the basket and the exceedingly annoyed cat. "You poor baby. It's all right, mummy's got you."

Gathering up the spitting and very grumpy looking Crookshanks into her arms, she stood up to see a familiar face. "Al," she sighed in relief. "There you are!"

Albus seemed to be fighting the urge to laugh. "I can't believe you talk to him like that, it's ridiculous."

Rose stuck out her chin. "He might have been hurt! He could have squashed his face."

"I'm not sure anything you could do to him, bar running him over with the Hogwarts Express, could squash his face anymore than it already is," grinned Al, ruffling Crookshanks' fur affectionately. Crookshanks snarled at him, not impressed with being insulted.

"Rose and Albus – am I right – Rose Weasley and Albus _Potter?_"

Rose and Al turned around to see a lanky boy with brown hair staring at them, a strange smile on his lips, which were parted in amazement.

"Yeah," said Al, "That's us."

"Amazing," he said, "I'm meeting the actual celebrity children. I know all about you of course, everyone does. You're first years too - I am. You look just like your father you know."

"I know."

"Not impressed eh? You might want to do something about those glasses then, they don't help. They look a bit rubbish too. Why haven't you had your eyes magically fixed…surely you aren't poor?" He snorted.

Albus glared.

"_You_ by the way are clearly a Weasley with that dreadful hair. It's a shame about the hair really. It's a bit of a silly colour, bright red, and when your whole family has it…oh dear." He sucked in a breath dramatically. "Then again, you have those blonde Veela cousins don't you? I bet they're happy they didn't turn out ginger like the rest of you."

Rose glared.

"Your cat is hideous, thought I'd let you know. I've got an owl which is far better, cats can't do anything. Not much use for bringing the post!" He laughed. Albus and Rose did not join in. "In fact mine's an eagle owl, which is the biggest breed of owl you know. No idea why you'd want a useless cat for a pet, let alone something that looks like it has run into a brick wall."

"Crookshanks does not have a squashed face," growled Al.

"You can say that all you like, it's not going to make it true. You two - come sit in my compartment," continued the boy imperiously. "I'll show you to some others I've met in our year. I'm Sebaceous by the way. Sebaceous Gland…but you can call me Seb."

"I'm sorry;" said Rose imperiously, "but we've already got a compartment."

Seb glanced at the trunks they were still carrying and his eyes narrowed. Then he looked back up at them. "Oh you have, have you. I see." His face broke into a slow grin which made Rose feel very uncomfortable. "I'll be seeing you around then," he added, and sauntered off.

Albus and Rose looked at each other.

"Most people at Hogwarts won't be like that," said Rose. "Or at least…I hope not."

**oOoOoOoOo**

**Hope you enjoyed, please review. **


	3. Year One:Chapter 3

"Gilbert, Stephen!" A square faced boy took his seat and yanked the Hat over his head.

"SLYTHERIN!"

"Gland, Sebaceous!" There was that boy from the train, sauntering up the steps as though he owned Hogwarts.

"RAVENCLAW!"

"Goose, Isabelle!" A big eyed, sulky looking girl tripped on her way up to the stool. There was a murmur of laughter from the rest of the students.

"HUFFLEPUFF!"

Rose shifted nervously in the line of terrified first years. _Stop it Rose, stop being silly _she told herself. _I shouldn't be scared, I should just stay calm; it's only the Sorting! _She glanced up at the star studded ceiling far above - which she knew was fake, of course, having memorised _Hogwarts, a History _- and tried to ignore the sea of faces below, all of which were staring in her and the other eleven-year-olds' direction. Bu t she couldn't help glancing down, and was comforted to see the familiar dark hair and warm brown eyes of James on the Gryffindor table...and there was Victoire, stunning as usual, wearing her shiny new head girl badge, her long hair a wave of silver. _Please let me be in Gryffindor_, she prayed silently, then stopped. _No. I could do just as well in Ravenclaw. Ravenclaw would be brilliant. It doesn't matter what House I'm in,_ she told herself, but she didn't believe it. Both her parents had been in Gryffindor...

"Jones, Harriet!" A girl with brown pigtails briskly grabbed the Hat and took her seat, as though she wanted to get it over with as quickly as possible. She probably did.

"RAVENCLAW!"

"Langdon, Heath!" A boy with sandy hair strolled up, expression caught somewhere between a smile and a grimace.

"RAVENCLAW!"

Rose turned her head back to the line in front of her. Oh no - half of the children had already been called forwards, and sent with much applause to their respective Houses. There were only a few more children lined up in front of her! She saw Albus' messy black hair, and felt, to her shame, slightly comforted. However nervous she might be, she knew she was nowhere near as apprehensive as her best friend - who also happened to be her cousin. He was terrified. She knew how desperately he wanted to be in Gryffindor - he had his father's name to live up to, of all people! Not that Rose was in any way intimidated by her friendly, skinny uncle. She wasn't quite sure she believed all those stories of his heroic actions in his youth, though everyone outside her family seemed to be hugely impressed by them.

Professor Longbottom cleared his throat and her attention snapped back to the Sorting.

"Malfoy, Scorpius!"

There was an outbreak of unfriendly whispering as a blonde, pointed faced boy stepped up and took his place on the Sorting stool. Everyone knew the stories about how Lucius and Narcissa Malfoy, with their son Draco, had helped Lord Voldemort (she was forbidden from calling him "He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named" by her parents for some reason) in his rise to power and reign of terror more than twenty years ago. Rose for one had heard a few stories about Draco from her father, most of which weren't very nice. She was nervously curious to see what Draco's son would be like.

She felt a sudden pang of pity for Scorpius as he stared out defiantly at the rows of hostile students, and noticed disapprovingly that James was glaring along with the rest. Personally she thought Scorpius seemed a normal - if not particularly friendly - boy from the little she'd seen of him so far, and that everyone else's prejudices were unfair. Just because his Dad had been a Death Eater didn't necessarily mean his son would be horrible too, let alone evil.

Professor Longbottom placed the Sorting Hat onto Scorpius' head and the hall suddenly silenced into a hush of expectation. The Malfoys had famously all been Slytherins...

"GRYFFINDOR!"

The hall exploded into talking and muttering, and as Scorpius pulled the Sorting Hat from his head Rose saw that he looked as shocked as the rest of them. He stumbled in a daze towards the Gryffindor table, and suddenly, Rose found herself clapping and cheering. She stopped, embarrassed, as Scorpius caught her eye and turned away quickly. But it was enough, and then the teachers and students were all applauding the Malfoys' first contribution to the House of Godric Gryffindor.

**oOoOoOoOo**

Scorpius sat down shakily at the Gryffindor table, trying to ignore the gazes of students all around him. Blood pounded in his ears as he stared at his shaking hands. His mind was reeling.

He was in Gryffindor.

This couldn't be right. He, Scorpius Hyperion Malfoy, was in Gryffindor. Gryffindor! He had been certain, absolutely positive, that he would be in Slytherin. In fact, it had barely even crossed his mind that he might be in anything _but_ Slytherin! He couldn't believe it. Merlin's pants, but would his father be surprised when he heard about this! He stifled the sudden, crazy urge to laugh - then gulped.

Would his family be pleased?

No. That much was obvious.

All the Malfoys were Slytherins. All of them. Ever. Proud of it too. And the vast majority of the Greengrasses as well, come to that. Everyone had just assumed that he would be a Slytherin! They weren't going to be happy. An image of his father's face, shock and disappointment barely disguising the anger in his eyes, swam through his mind. He groaned. Oh, damn…this wasn't a good thing.

He realised that he had never even thought about whether or not he wanted to be a Slytherin. Well he was a Gryffindor now - the Hat had seemed certain about that, the thought had never crossed his own mind. He was going to have to make the most of it. The Sorting could not be undone.

He remembered the girl with the curly red hair who had cheered for him and decided that with a lot of luck, it might not be a total disaster after all.

**oOoOoOoOo**

"Pole, Susan!" Head held high, a girl with two long, dark plaits walked up to the stool.

"SLYTHERIN!"

Albus swallowed and fixed his gaze firmly ahead of him. It was his turn. He was next. He was going to be Sorted.

And he was terrified.

He tried to tell himself, as he had a thousand times before, that there was nothing wrong with being in Slytherin.

It failed.

He tried to think of Rose, his best friend, standing a few paces behind him. Clever, capable Rose, who always seemed to know what was on his mind. She had never teased him about being Sorted into Slytherin… but what if Rose was in Gryffindor, and he wasn't?

He tried to think of his dad, who had told him he would be proud of him no matter what. What had his words been? _T__he Sorting Hat takes your choice into account._ At the time those words had comforted him. But now, Albus was sure that it wasn't true, and that the Hat wouldn't listen to him! And what if all of Albus' fears came true? What if all of James teases and taunts, which secretly worried him badly, came true?

"Potter, Albus!"

More whispering broke out, if anything more than had greeted Scorpius Malfoy. Albus' heart thudded in his chest. He had to force himself to step forward. His throat constricted.

He made himself ignore the students (and teachers) gawping at him as he sat down on the Sorting stool. _Yes, I know I look like my Dad. Well...big deal!_

Now to get it over with.

He grabbed the mouldy, patched old Hat and shoved it onto his head, and it slipped down over his eyes. All he could see was the black inside of the Hat's lining.

"Hmmm..." buzzed a small voice in his ear. He jumped. "Hmmm. Yes. Courage - a decent mind too. Ah yes. Desperate to prove yourself - just like your father, how interesting..."

Albus twisted his hands together in his lap. _Not Slytherin, not Slytherin,_ he thought.

"Well this is very interesting," said the small voice. "Your father thought exactly the same thing when I was Sorting _him_."

_He did?_

"And as I've said before, if you're sure, better be GRYFFINDOR!"

The hall erupted into cheers.

Albus staggered forward towards the Gryffindor table, and collapsed onto the bench next to Scorpius Malfoy. He was too relieved to notice. He was too relieved to register all the people congratulating him, and James patting him on the back. All he could think about was that he wasn't in Slytherin - and what was more - he was in Gryffindor!

"Quiet!" called Professor Longbottom. Nobody noticed. "Quiet!" he called, slightly more loudly. His voice was drowned out by the general chaos. He pointed his wand into the air and set off a huge bang. Finally, everyone began to quieten down. Not that Albus noticed. He recovered from his shock just in time to see Rose being called up. She sat down on the chair, pulled on the hat, a moments notice, then -

"GRYFFINDOR!"

Eyes shining, Rose tore off the hat and raced straight over to Albus, enveloping him in a huge hug. James momentarily swallowed his pride and joined in, as the rest of the House laughed and cheered. Further down the table, a group of kids were yelling "We got Potter! We got Potter!"

Albus and Rose grinned at each other. Hogwarts was going to be brilliant!

**oOoOoOoOo**

**Hope you liked it! **

**There's a chance you noticed that all of the kids in their year have names stolen, changed slightly and put together from various fictional characters and celebrities that UltimateGryffindork and I either love…or hate. :P**

**Love it or hate it, or just think 'meh', please review it.**


	4. Year One:Chapter 4

**This continues after the sorting feast. Remember to check out UltimateGryffindork, my amazing collaborator. **

**oOoOoOoOo**

The common room was a cacophony of shouting and laughing students, catching up on news from the summer, and looking forward to - or dreading - the start of the new school year.

The first years mingled nervously with the crowd, and Albus found that people were still staring at him.

"I am _not_ my Dad," he muttered.

"Hey, Al," said James, who had suddenly appeared in front of him along with a bunch of very interested looking friends. Suddenly James grabbed a handful of Albus' fringe and yanked it back from his forehead. "See, Gavin, what did I tell you - no scar!"

"Oh," grunted a hairy looking boy.

"Gerroff!" said Albus, pushing James away. "Leave me alone!"

"Okay, okay!" said James, raising his hands. He lowered his voice to a conspiratorial whisper. "So, what do you think about..." he threw a meaningful glance in the direction of Scorpius Malfoy.

"What are you on about?" said Albus.

"He's the first Malfoy for like, ever to _not_ be in Slytherin!" snarled James. "What do you _think_ I'm on about!"

"I don't see what the big deal is," said Albus.

James groaned. "Don't be so thick, Al" he said. "His Dad was a Death Eater – d'uh! He's supposed to be in Slytherin. What the hell is he doing in _Gryffindor?"_ He glared at Scorpius, who was sitting by himself in a corner.

"Come on guys, let's go," he said to his friends, and they left, leaving Albus feeling very confused.

**oOoOoOoOo**

It was nearly midnight, and the only sound Albus could hear was the steady breathing of the other Gryffindor boys who had finally dropped off after the crazy celebrations that had followed the Sorting feast.

Albus couldn't sleep. There were just too many thoughts whirling through his head.

He heard the creak of bed springs and saw a black shape move through the darkness towards the window, where a moonbeam shone onto a head of pale hair. It was Scorpius Malfoy.

Albus suddenly realised that Scorpius had been the only one who had not joined in at all with the wild festivities...

**oOoOoOoOo**

Scorpius looked out over the rolling grounds of Hogwarts. The moonlight reflected on the surface of the lake. The reflection rippled as something large and tentacle-like splashed through the surface. It must be the giant squid his father had told him about...wow...it was huge.

His father...for the millionth time that evening, Scorpius wondered anxiously what his father's reaction would be when he found out that his only son and heir was a Gryffindor.

"Can't sleep?"

He jumped at the voice - which he realised belonged to Albus Potter.

"No," he replied stiffly.

There was a silence.

"You must be, you know, surprised and everything, what with being in Gryffindor and not Slytherin...sorry, I didn't mean…"

"It's alright," interrupted Scorpius. He smiled wryly to himself. "My whole family has been in Slytherin, apart from some great Aunt, and a couple of second cousins who died twenty years ago," he continued quietly. "My father- I don't know if he'll..." he trailed off, suddenly embarrassed. He didn't normally say that much in one go - and why was he saying all this to someone he barely knew?

"Is that why you didn't really join in earlier? Cos you were worried about your Dad's reaction?" Albus asked tentatively.

There was another awkward silence.

"Is Rose your cousin?" Scorpius asked, only partly to change the subject.

"Yeah," said Albus, sounding surprised. "Why?"

Scorpius was glad it was dark and Albus couldn't see his expression. "I just wondered."

**oOoOoOoOo**

**You've read it, so please review it :D**


	5. Year One:Chapter 5

The Gryffindors' first class was Herbology with the Hufflepuffs. This was rather awkward for Rose and Albus as 'Professor Longbottom' was a family friend known affectionately to them as 'Neville'. He was trying valiantly to keep the class concentrated on Herbology - and was failing dismally - as the eager first-years were constantly bombarding him with questions relating to his heroic youth.

"Sir, Sir, how many dangerous Death Eaters did you catch when you were an Auror? Like, seriously evil ones?"

"Quite a few I suppose, I don't entirely remember the -"

"Sir, can we see your famous DA galleon? My sister told me-"

"Only if you sit down and pay attention-"

"Sir, Sir, is it true that you killed Voldemort's snake?"

"Yes – but -"

"Wow…that is so totally awesome sir!"

"_I_ heard it was an Oliphant!"

"And an army of blast-ended skrewts!"

"_And_ a giant basilisk-"

"No - that was Harry Potter. Now can we all just -"

All eyes turned to Albus, where he sat at the back of the class with Rose.

"Your Dad killed a basilisk?"

"What's a basilisk?"

"A rare breed of Oliphant!"

"Honestly," said Rose. Albus hid his head in his arms.

Professor Longbottom had given up all hope of teaching anything to anyone, except perhaps '_20 Foolproof Ways to Jinx Death Eaters'. _ He didn't normally a problem controlling classes; he was a popular teacher whom the students regarded with respect, several with awe_. _This lot, apparently, were the exception. Either that or they were just particularly rowdy.

Rose sighed as she noticed a group of girls who kept giggling and whispering, throwing meaningful glances at Albus.

"You've got yourself some secret admirers," she said to him, over the din of over excited eleven-year-olds, and a large tank of warty toads croaking in the corner.

Albus looked even more despondent as one of the girls batted her eye lashes at him - which just made her look like she was having some sort of spasm.

Suddenly, everyone threw themselves back into their seats as the Headmistress, Professor Merrythought, marched into the (now silent) greenhouse.

"What is this rumpus?" she demanded. Albus ducked his head. He remembered his brother's frequent complaints about unjust detentions at the hands of the Headmistress, and his father laughing and replying that McGonagall sure new what she was doing when she picked her successor. Despite her diminutive stature Melinda Merrythought was a force to be reckoned with.

"Headmistress, I can explain - " began Professor Longbottom.

"There is no need," interrupted Professor Merrythought, eyes shooting sparks as she surveyed the rows of terrified students. "I hope," she said, "that you are not making trouble for Professor Longbottom in your first lesson at Hogwarts!"

The children looked suitably chastised. Rose wore her best "I-Told-You-So" look, which she had inherited from her mother.

"From now on, I expect you all to behave _exceptionally_ for the entirety of your stay at Hogwarts! Next time, I will not be so lenient. Good day!"

With that, she swept out.

The entire class was remarkably subdued for the rest of the lesson. However, their newfound behavioural skills lasted only to the next class - much to the despair of the Charms teacher.

**oOoOoOoOo**

**You've read it, now review it **


	6. Year One:Chapter 6

Exhausted, Albus looked down at his timetable to see what the last lesson of the week was. _It'd better be good,_ he thought.

Potions with the Slytherins!

Potions was already one of Al's favourite lessons, despite only having been at school for a week. He was thankful there was at least one good lesson leading up to the weekend, as so far, Friday had been pretty rubbish. That morning had been Flying – Al grimaced. He hated flying. It wasn't that he couldn't do it - he knew he could, they had brooms at home – it's just that he didn't like it. He didn't like zooming around high up in the air, chucking balls into hoops– what was the point?

He didn't like that when he was flying, people would stare and say _There goes Albus Potter doesn't he look like his father and isn't he a fantastic flyer just like his father he should be a seeker just like his father…_

Albus was not his father. He was Albus. He was different, and he hated flying. He liked Potions.

So there.

**oOoOoOoOo**

Scorpius turned up early to Potions and pulled up a chair at an empty desk at the back of the class – a formula he'd used so far for pretty much every lesson. By the end of the week he'd resigned himself to the fact that he was going to be at best, ignored, and at worst, scorned, by most of the other students.

Well, he didn't care what people thought. He'd never been one for friends, and he was doing well in lessons anyhow.

The rest of the students began to enter the dungeons, most of who did not seem to be impressed at the prospect of Friday afternoon potions. Since they were with the Slytherins, Scorpius knew already after a week that he would attract trouble. He stared straight ahead in silence as the pupils made their way to their seats.

Suddenly, he felt someone cuff him round the back of the head, hard. "Traitor," snarled the culprit, a Slytherin Scorpius was pretty sure was called Denethor Pine. Scorpius did not retaliate. As he passed by the desk, another exceedingly burly Slytherin boy, Edward Prattinson, reached out and knocked Scorpius' ink bottle flying.

"Oops," he said, as it smashed all over the floor, and several of Scorpius' books. Two girls, Salacia Drotting and Nerissa Parkinson, snickered maliciously.

Slowly, Scorpius stood up and went to recover his ink stained text books. Deep down, he was seething. He wanted to make them pay for this. Luckily, he'd had years of practice controlling his emotions, and knew that starting a fight really wasn't a good idea.

It was, however, an extremely appealing one right now.

Resisting the urge to sock Edward in his ugly face, he pulled out his wand to charm away the spilled ink. Great – he didn't have much experience with housework and didn't know any cleaning spells. But there was no way he was asking for help. He could deal with this, and the bullies, himself.

Scorpius hadn't expected people's behaviour to be much different than it was – being a Malfoy in Gryffindor was not exactly a trusted recipe for social success.

But the way they were acting got to him just the same.

**oOoOoOoOo**

Rose entered the dungeons with Al to see Scorpius Malfoy attempting to charm away a puddle of spilled ink. He wasn't having much success.

"Scourgify," she said, pointing her wand. The ink, and shattered bottle, disappeared. "There you go. All gone." She heard a girl snigger behind her, and felt her cheeks burn. Scorpius stood, and looked at her curiously for a second. Then he turned to walk back to his desk.

"You're welcome," Rose muttered, as he retook his seat. "Ungrateful little…"

Determined to extract thanks, she walked briskly over, rummaging around in her bag. "I have a spare ink bottle you can use. Here," she said, and thrust out her hand.

"I have my own," said Scorpius.

Rose remained.

"Thanks," he added.

Satisfied, Rose withdrew the bottle, and went over to where Albus sat at their desk. Pleased with herself, she began removing her equipment.

"What?" she said.

"Nothing," Albus smirked.

**oOoOoOoOo**

**Love it, hate it, please review it. :P**


	7. Year One:Chapter 7

**Thank you to the people who reviewed, it'd make my day if I could get some more! :D**

oOoOoOoOo

Scorpius' stomach churned as he stepped off the Hogwarts Express. Not entirely sure whether he was looking forward to these Christmas holidays, he scanned the platform, looking for his parents. He spotted them, his mother doing her best to hide the fact that she was beaming in a most unladylike fashion, his smartly dressed father looking around nervously, trying to fit in. Scorpius dragged his trunk over to them.

"Oh, my little Scorpius, I've missed you so much!" his mother exclaimed, while pulling him into a huge hug, her impeccably arranged dark hair getting slightly squashed in the process. "We've heard almost nothing from you!"

"Mum, gerroff me," Scorpius grunted, unused to such open displays of affection from his usually reserved parents. "I owled you every week!"

"But you told us absolutely _nothing!"_

"Have you had a good term, son?" asked his father, patting him on the back.

"You must tell me all about the lessons you've learnt," smiled his mother. "Is Professor Binns still teaching History of Magic?"

"Well -" began Scorpius.

"Have you been trying hard and getting good grades?" asked his father.

"I -"

"Have you made any friends?"

"Mum-"

"Who's Head of House now Slughorn's retired? I hope it's someone decent, as quite frankly, he was pathetic – no sense of discipline -"

"Draco!" reprimanded Mrs Malfoy.

Scorpius couldn't take it any longer - he felt like he was about to explode.

"MUM! DAD! STOP IT!" he yelled.

They stepped back, shocked at the sudden outburst.

"Darling, please control yourself! What in the name of Merlin is the matter?" asked his mother anxiously.

Scorpius suddenly felt ill. "I - I'm...not in Slytherin," he murmured.

"Sorry, what did you say?" said his father.

"I'm not in Slytherin." He looked up, trying to catch his father's eye. There was a pause.

"Well… what House are you in?" asked his mother, sounding slightly wary.

"Gryffindor," he said, almost defiantly.

There was a long silence as his mother stared at him, and he resisted the urge to shuffle his feet, getting more nervous by the second. He watched his parents' faces. His mother now looked surprised, but not unhappy. His father was staring straight ahead, his face tense. He looked like he was battling with different emotions.

"Well…" Astoria began slowly, "Gryffindor is a well respected House…there's…nothing wrong with that at all, I suppose…_is there_ _Draco?"_

Mr Malfoy looked like he had reached a decision, and turned his grey eyes to Scorpius.

"No, there isn't." He seemed to be struggling slightly to get the words out. "We'd be proud of you... whatever House you were in… even if it was Hufflepuff."

"_Draco!"_ a ghost of a smile tugged Astoria's lips. She turned to Scorpius, and the smile disappeared slightly from her eyes. "It's just…well, a bit of a shock, you see, we were expecting you to be in Slytherin…like the rest of the family."

Scorpius looked her straight in the eye, unsure of how things stood, but determined not to show that he cared. They stood there awkwardly for another few seconds.

"Oh, Scorpy," his mother sighed, "We are proud of you. You must know that. And we love you very, very much." She hugged him again, but this time he let her.

"Dad's not mad, is he?" Scorpius whispered, as they walked out of the station.

"Don't worry - he's just having trouble coming to terms with the fact that, well, you've broken a bit of a family tradition…and you're in the same House as those who he...didn't get on with at school." She glanced at Scorpius and smiled reassuringly. "He'll be fine, you'll see."

oOoOoOoOo

**So, what did you think of Draco and Astoria's reactions? Please review and tell me…**


	8. Year One:Chapter 8

It was a cold morning in early February, and unusually, it wasn't snowing. In fact, it was almost warm. Albus and Rose sat by the lake in a sheltered hollow, studying…well, one of them, anyway.

"What is the point," said Albus standing up suddenly, "Of us coming outside to enjoy the only bit of sunshine we'll probably see until April, if all you are going to do is read?"

"This test is important, Al!" said Rose. "You know what Professor Harkfor's like. I need to revise!"

"No. You do not need to revise, because you'd get top marks even if you didn't! Now get up and stop being so boring!"

Rose ignored him. Albus sighed, then became suspiciously quiet. After a minute Rose felt something cold and light trickle through her hair, then down her neck. Suddenly the trickle increased in flow. She squeaked and jumped up just in time to see a snowball hit her in the face.

"Al!" she yelled, half laughing, wiping snow out of her hair. "Stop it before I jinx you! You're getting snow on the books!"

Al had stopped pelting her with snow already. Instead he was looking over to her right, a familiar thoughtful expression on his face.

"He," said Al, "is too much of a loner."

"What?" said Rose, looking up from her (thankfully dry) Transfiguration essay. "Who are you talking about?"

"Scorpius!" said Albus, pointing across to a small blonde figure further along the shore of the lake.

"Well, I think he just likes his own company," said Rose carefully. "We've only been here a term and a bit; you can't expect him to be bezzie mates with everyone already."

"There's a difference between liking your own company and spending all your time by yourself. He has no friends. Whatsoever."

"Don't say that!" protested Rose, "I'm…his friend. Sort of. And you are. I know you've talked to him!"

"Not much," said Al, "and what about the others in our year - or House for that matter. Do they talk to him? No, they don't! Some people actually ignore him, or worse." He grimaced, thinking of James, who for one had already made it quite clear that he thought the presence of a Malfoy was a blemish on the face of Gryffindor. "It's gotta be hard, being…well… Sorted into the wrong House."

"It's not 'the wrong House'," began Rose, but she had to admit he was right.

"I just think we should go sit with him…or something."

"You get how he feels, don't you," said Rose gazing thoughtfully at Scorpius.

"What?"

"Well, you were worried you'd get put in Slytherin."

"I was not!"

"Yes, you were. You were scared stiff of that happening to you, so you sympathize with him."

"I guess."

"And now you want me to join you on a friendship mission."

"Exactly," said Al, bending down and collecting books. "Let's go talk to him."

oOoOoOoOo

"Hi Scorp," said a voice, "Mind if we sit here?"

Surprised at the unfamiliar use of his name, Scorpius started from his reverie, to see Albus. With him was Rose, who as usual when she went anywhere, seemed to have brought half the library with her.

"Cool," said Albus, who, not waiting for a reply had already flopped down under the tree next to him. Rose smiled shyly and sat down on his other side.

"I figured since you and Rose are pretty brainy, we could all study for Harkfor's test together," Albus grinned at Scorpius, who seemed mildly alarmed at the sudden company. Punching him lightly on the arm he continued "Aw, come on Scorp, you can't just hide out here by the lake by your ickle self all day. We know you like to be a loner but you need to have at least _some_ friends."

"Albus!" gasped Rose. "You can't say things like that!" She turned to Scorpius. "I'm really sorry, he doesn't mean it. His brother James is a bad influence; normally he's really quiet and sensitive." She glared pointedly at Albus, who shrugged.

"It's fine," said Scorpius. "We can…study…if you like."

"Brilliant," beamed Rose, and pushed a stack of books towards him. "We can start with these, and if I haven't covered everything we could always go back to the library to find some more."

"If there are any more in the library, that is," muttered Albus. Rose stuck out her tongue. Scorpius looked between them in pleasant confusion. Their open, easygoing banter was something he was unused to, and caught him slightly off guard.

Scorpius glanced at the pile. "I didn't realise we had so much to learn."

Albus snorted.

"Well, technically we don't," said Rose, completely unabashed, "but I thought it would be good to, well, get some more background information."

Scorpius pulled the top book off the pile. "And…is the _'Encyclopaedia of Toadstools' _background information for first year Transfiguration?"

Rose coloured slightly and pulled the book out of his hands. "Maybe we don't need _all_ of them…"

Scorpius felt the corners of his mouth twitch.

"Scorp," laughed Albus, "I can call you Scorp right – you are seriously awesome. Because you just got Rose to admit what I've been trying to get her to say _all term_ so far." He clapped him on the back. "From now on, we are spending _all_ our study time together."

"I'd watch out if I was you," said Rose, "He'll try to steal your essays."

"Will not!"

"Will too!"

"Okay, I did that _once,_ and only because James dared me!"

"And since when have you joined in with James's stupid dares?"

"Since I decided that you were annoying and I wanted to steal you essay…"

Suddenly, they were rolling around in the snow, Albus hitting a half laughing, half protesting Rose with _'Flesh Eating Trees of the World'_.

Scorpius watched them, one eyebrow raised. Then he picked up his book and stood up, dusting snow from his cloak.

"I'm going inside." He nodded briefly at the other two and walked off.

Rose and Albus stared after him.

"Oh dear," said Rose. "Did we scare him off?"

"I don't know," said Al. "At least it's a start. But by the end of this term, he's gonna be so friendly he'll be moved into Hufflepuff. Just you wait!"

Rose sighed. Al was wearing his determined face, and she knew there was no point arguing.

oOoOoOoOo

**Review it and receive 1,000,000 awesome points!**


	9. Year One:Chapter 9

Rose was on her way back from one of her frequent trips to the library, the comforting weight of a large book in her bag nudging her leg as she walked. Rounding a corner she saw that the corridor was blocked by a group of older students, who were ranged out in front of a smaller kid - Scorpius.

As Scorpius made a move to avoid them, a tall boy who appeared to be the ringleader walked lazily up to him and poked him in the chest. He seemed oddly familiar "Not so fast, squirt. I've heard all about _you_ from my brother. "

Rose bit her lip as she recognised him. It was Denethor's fifth-year brother, Brutus.

"Let me through," Scorpius said quietly.

Brutusfolded his arms slowly and smiled. "Oh, I don't think so, _Malfoy_. Especially since you neglected to ask nicely."

"I don't want to cause any trouble."

"Too late," Brutus sneered. He jerked his head at a boy on his left, who began rolling up his sleeves, an ugly leer on his face. "I think it's time someone taught this little blood traitor a lesson, eh Derek?"

Scorpius glanced down at the wand now pointed at his throat. "So that's what this is about. Me, a Gryffindor. Funny that. You do realise no-one believes in any of that pure-blood stuff anymore?"

Rose squeaked in horror as Derek's meaty arm shot out. His fist collided with Scorpius' chin, sending him reeling. As the boy stepped forward take another shot, Scorpius scrambled to his feet, drawing his wand.

"Stop it!" yelled Rose, sprinting towards them. "Leave him alone…please!" She drew up short and felt a burst of fear as the Slytherin fifth-years turned towards her.

"Well, well well…if it isn't little Rose Weasley. I'd forget about helping your precious boyfriend if I was you, Rosie. It's not you we have a problem with…so why don't you just run along?"

"Please, please don't fight," Rose gasped, "Scorpius didn't mean to, uh, annoy you, he's just having a really bad day, and he's ill, aren't you Scorpius? You didn't mean to cause any trouble!" She turned to him desperately, pleading that he'd play along, and grabbed him by the shoulders. "Scorpius, are you Okay? Are you hurt? Oh, your poor chin!"

Brutus and his friends burst into hoots of laughter. "Look at them – aren't they cute?"

Scorpius threw her off, his face ashen. "Get _off_ me! What the hell do you think you're doing?" he hissed.

Rose stared in shock. "I was just -"

Scorpius' eyes blazed. "Stay out of this, Weasley -"

"Aw, Scorpy, aren't you lucky to have your little ginger girlfriend here to look after you? You should be grateful!" The fifth-years roared with hysterical laughter.

Brutus clapped Rose heavily on the back. "Thank you, little Rose, you've really made my day." He waggled his eyebrows meaningfully at Scorpius. "She's so amusing, we'll let you off. This time. You better watch your back, Malfoy."

The Slytherins sauntered off, chuckling darkly. Rose turned to Scorpius. "You were really lucky to get off like that; you need to be more careful -"

"Don't you dare tell me what to do, Rose Weasley!" Scorpius looked livid; two points of crimson burned on his cheekbones. "I don't need your help; I doing perfectly fine by myself -"

Rose gaped. "No you were _not_; they were going to beat you up!"

"Could you not keep your stupid, busybody nose out of other people's business for once in your entire life?" Scorpius snarled.

Rose spluttered in indignant anger.

"Get lost, Weasley!"

"You… I… if that's how you feel, fine, I will!" she finally yelled.

"Good," spat Scorpius, and stalked away.

Rose's vision swam with furious tears. Mortified, she brushed them aside. So much for trying to be his friend!

She _hated_ Scorpius Malfoy.

oOoOoOoOo

**Review, dear readers, review!**


	10. Year One:Chapter 10

It wasn't late, but the common room practically empty…and with good reason. The delightful aftertaste of James Potter's latest Dungbomb experiment still lingered heavily in the air, despite all efforts to remove the stench.

Albus and Rose had suffered such conditions often enough that they weren't really affected.

"Scorpius is sitting by himself again," said Al.

Rose sniffed.

"We should go sit with him."

"Oh, really."

"Yeah, I know he's not the friendliest person around but -"

Rose turned to Albus, cheeks flushed. "No. We shouldn't go sit with him. He's an arrogant, bigheaded, obnoxious, ungrateful git who doesn't deserve anyone's company other than his own!"

Rose noticed that her raised voice was drawing curious glances from the few people left in the common room. She didn't care; she was in her stride.

"I for one certainly do _not_ want to be his friend, even if he wanted me to be! He doesn't want friends and he's far too bigheaded, ungrateful, arrogant and obnoxious to admit he wanted them even if he did which he _doesn't _by the way!"

Albus stared at her, stunned. "Dumbledore's beard…what's got into you?"

"Scorpius _Malfoy _doesn't think us _common _folk are _good _enough for him. I'm not talking to him, and if you had any sense you wouldn't either." Remembering the humiliation of that morning, Rose felt her eyes prickle with tears. "Don't waste your good intentions on him Al, he's not worth it."

Albus raised his eyebrows. "What on earth did he do?"

Rose ignored the question. "I'm going to bed. Goodnight."

Staring straight ahead, she marched from the common room, before breaking into a run on the staircase and flinging herself onto her bed in the girl's dormitory. All her anger had evaporated, leaving a sense of exhaustion…and misery. She didn't ever say such horrible things about people, and certainly not in their hearing. It was all too clear who she'd been on about, and she knew that Scorpius had heard every word.

Well, she had meant him to, hadn't she! He totally deserved every bit of it.

She didn't feel guilty at all.

oOoOoOoOo

Scorpius sat staring into the fire, Rose's words echoing in his ears. His jaw was coming up with a purple bruise from where he'd been punched that afternoon. Fantastic.

Part of him felt sorry that he had hurt her feelings. She was one of the few people who had actually made an effort to be nice to him, and what had he gone and done? Flung her offer of friendship back in her face.

The rest of him was angry, and more than a little defiant. He was justified in his actions towards her. His father had drilled into him from a young age that he could never, ever lose face, and the Weasley girl had made a fool of him in front of the worst possible people. Now, she had openly insulted him. He wasn't going to forget that easily.

He was, after all, a Malfoy.

oOoOoOoOo

**Didya love it? Didya hate it? Please review either way. **


	11. Year One:Chapter 11

Scorpius was not having a good week.

Those Slytherin idiots in his year had been going out of their way almost every minute to irritate him. This was no change from normal, but this week they had seemed more determined than ever in their efforts to provoke a reaction. Everywhere he went, they were there, taunting him and generally trying to make his life a misery. It wasn't just them; there was that Ravenclaw prat Gland and his group of cronies too.

Of course, seeing as most of the Slytherins didn't share two brain cells to rub together (and despite their House, neither did several of the Ravenclaws), their efforts were minor and pathetic.

Normally, he wouldn't let such behaviour get to him. But it wasn't just the people who treated him with outright dislike, if it had just been them, their behaviour wouldn't affect him. They were beneath him.

It was the people in his own House, the people who under other circumstances would be his friends, comrades. They were the ones who were twisting him up from the inside. He was sick of being ignored, jibed, derided. He couldn't take it much longer.

oOoOoOoOo

When the bell rang at the end of the lesson, Rose was caught totally by surprise. She had been so engrossed in writing notes on Professor Rackwort's _fascinating_ lecture on the dangers of not taking care whilst labelling potions ingredients (why, many people had died by consuming bottles of Butterbeer only to discover that it was, in fact, Lobalug venom) that the time had flown by. And now, the lessons were all over for another week!

Well, at least she had homework to look forward to. They'd been set some pretty interesting sounding essays.

"Finally," said Albus, sinking his head onto the desk. "The weekend!"

A sudden laugh caught her attention and she turned around just in time to see a thuggish boy attempt to trip up Scorpius Malfoy. Professor Rackwort had not noticed, and she automatically opened her mouth to intervene. Then she remembered, and, annoyed at her mental relapse, busied herself with her book bag. She continued, however, to secretly watch out of the corner of her eye.

But Scorpius had already seen Edward's leg. All the pent up emotions of the past two terms were rushing up inside him, threatening to overflow. He turned his head and fixed the boy with a cobra-like stare. The blazing look in his grey eyes was of such sheer and utter contempt that it seemed to burn holes in the face of the boy receiving it. Edward was frozen in fear.

"Leave. Me. Alone." Scorpius spoke softly, but the malice in his voice was unmistakeable. "Do you understand?"

Edward quailed and drew his foot back, sinking down onto the nearest chair, nodding and muttering apologies. Rose, sitting several desks away, quailed too, along with most of the class. Scorpius spun on his heel and swept – _Seriously_, thought Rose, _he's only twelve and_ _he actually_ swept – from the dungeons.

For several seconds nobody dared move.

Albus gave a low whistle. "Now _that_ was pretty scary. You know, I seriously like this Scorpius Malfoy..."

Rose glared at him.

She continued shoving her books away with unnecessary force.

oOoOoOoOo

**Please review, and remember to check out my collaborator UltimateGryffindork **


	12. Year One:Chapter 12

It was Friday again, and for once even Rose was glad. This term had been exhausting. What with leaving the room (out of lessons of course) every time Scorpius Malfoy entered, she had barely found time to do her homework, let alone been able to spend much time with Al, who seemed to be making it his life's work to befriend the other boy. She was instead hanging out with another Gryffindor girl, Annabeth Underwood, and the two had grown quite close. She was even going round with Albus' fanclub if necessity called. Once you got over the general silliness, they were actually quite nice. They were, however, not exactly mature or intelligent company.

Part of her wondered if she was being ridiculously stubborn. But every time she felt herself waver, she would clamp down on her misgivings stick out her chin. Scorpius had made no move to apologise. Therefore, she would make no move to acknowledge his existence.

Now, the first-years were battling through some particularly tough Potions questions.

_Which healing potion can be used to counter the effects of the Draught of Living Death?_

"Did you see that?" whispered Al.

Wiggenweld potion, obviously. Rose wrote in the answer.

"Denny Pine just let Scorp borrow his book. No wait, I think he just _gave_ him the book…and he hadn't even asked for it!"

Rose remained silent.

"The Denethor I know would never lend Scorpius anything. He'd just steal what he had left! What in the name of Dumbledore is going on? What ever Scorpius did when he glared at Prattinson that time, it must have worked alright!"

Rose turned over her parchment.

"Did you even hear what I just said? The Slytherins are acting _friendly_ to Scorpius!"

"Albus Potter! Open your mouth again, and it'll be ten points from Gryffindor!"

"Sorry, Professor."

oOoOoOoOo

Rose ran from the dungeons as soon as the bell began to ring, determined to get back to the library and finish a Charms essay she hadn't had time to the night before. Consequently, she wasn't really looking where she was going, and, rounding a corner, collided heavily with another person.

Falling backwards and landing heavily, her bag split on the stone flagged floor and spilled books and parchment all over the place. Rose's dismay turned into relief as she realised that somehow, her ink bottle had remained intact.

"I'm so sorry!" she gushed to the other person, who hadn't fallen flat on their back, but had instead toppled over into their bunch of friends. It was Seb Gland, the obnoxious Ravenclaw. His hair and robes were rumpled and his face was creased in a scowl.

"Can't you watch where you're going, you blithering moron?" he yelled, staggering to his feet, helped up by a dark haired boy, Peter Johnson.

"I said, I'm really sorry!"

Seb hadn't exactly been civil to her or Albus since they had first met on the Hogwarts Express, but she had no idea what his grudge was supposed to be about.

If he heard her apology, he chose to ignore it. "Who the hell do you think you are, Rose _Weasley_?"

_Why do I even bother?_ thought Rose. Ignoring his jibe, she knelt up and began reaching for her things. Suddenly, a polished shoe slammed to the ground, millimetres from her hand, and crunched her ink bottle into smithereens. Rose stared in horror as liquid sprayed in all directions over her books and schoolwork.

"Ignoring me, are we? You Weasley idiots are all the same aren't you?" Seb snarled. "You think you're so much better than everyone else – well you're wrong – your whole family isn't fit to wash Goyle the Gamekeeper's socks!"

"How dare you," Rose gasped.

"That air-head Dominique and her stupid little brother, flouncing around like they're _so_ special, and can lord it over the rest of the school just because their precious sister's Headgirl? I don't think so! And you, you think you're so smart, well, you're pathetic - sucking up to all the teachers," he put on a high pitched voice, "_Oh me Professor I know Professor pick me Professor can I lick your boots Professor?" _he sneered.

Seb's friends seemed to find this highly amusing. Furious, Rose stood up, drawing her wand. "You arrogant, filthy little toe-rag!"

This only added to their laughter; Bruce Pennyworth was letting out loud guffaws and Cathy Shaw's pretty face was twisted with malicious mirth. "Ginger suck-up!" she giggled.

"Oh, so I'm an arrogant toe-rag?" Seb continued. "Look who's talking, you little brat, acting oh-so-high and mighty just because you're friends with _Potter-"_

"You leave Al out of this!" Her voice was drowned out by their taunts as the group of children began to encircle her.

"What happened to your face, how come you're so ugly with such a good looking mother?"

"If we set her hair on fire it might improve something at least! It's not as if _that _could get any worse!"

Despite the immaturity of the insults, Rose felt a flicker of fear; this was quickly drowned by anger. How dare they insult her family, ruin her schoolwork? Who cares about no magic in the corridors, stuff the rules! She raised her wand with a mind to make Sebaceous eat dragon dung –

-but somebody else got there first.

"Expelliarmus! _Flipendo!_"

For the second time that afternoon Seb was thrown backwards, and the Ravenclaws flung themselves out of the way with looks of alarm. With a yell of shock (followed by a cry of pain,) Seb found himself flying through the air before crashing into the middle of a shrieking group of third-year girls.

Rose gaped as a familiar white-blonde head stepped up beside her, wand outstretched and Seb's wand clutched in his other hand.

"Back off," Scorpius hissed, his cold grey eyes narrowed. "All of you."

The Ravenclaws hastened to do as he instructed, shoving their way through the group of spectators who had gathered around them. Scorpius certainly had a knack for intimidating people.

"My father will here about this," spluttered Sebaceous from where he lay in a heap.

Scorpius smirked, and walked forward. "Oh will he? Going to write home to Daddy to tell him how you were picking on Rose Weasley, and were thrown halfway down a corridor by a Malfoy? I'm sure he'll be so proud."

Sebaceous met Scorpius' glare with his pale blue eyes. He had to look away.

"Get up," said Scorpius, "and clear up this mess you've made. Then, apologise to Rose."

"You can't make me!"

Scorpius leaned in closer. "I think you'll find I have your wand. So yes, I can. Now get up."

Fury and humiliation written all over his face, Seb struggled to his feet, and began scrabbling on the floor for Rose's things. He shoved her bag into her chest and muttered something.

"What's that," said Scorpius blithely. "I didn't hear you."

"I said, _sorry -" _

"Good," said Scorpius. "But you're going to have to pay to replace that ink bottle." He flicked Seb's wand at him. "Now get lost, before I hex you."

White-faced, Seb grabbed his wand and shot Scorpius and Rose a look of pure poison. Then he turned and fled. "I'll get you for this!" he yelled over his shoulder, as soon as he was a safe distance away.

Rose realised she was starting to look like a fish, and shut her mouth with a snap. The students around them, several smiling in admiration, began to leave now that the show was over.

Scorpius turned to her, his face unreadable. "Sorry about that," he said, "I'm just so sick to death of the insufferable git, I had to teach him a lesson."

Rose had lost the ability to talk.

"You didn't need my help, and you were coping perfectly well by yourself," Scorpius continued. "I won't bother you again." He nodded at her, and turned to walk away.

"Wait," called Rose. She swallowed thickly, and took a deep breath. "I'm sorry for…for…behaving like a jerk."

Scorpius turned back. He looked surprised.

There was an awkward silence.

"No…I'm sorry. I'm the one who behaved like a… jerk." Scorpius frowned. "I guess we're even now."

"That's okay," said Rose quietly.

Slowly, Scorpius held out his palm.

Rose took it, and they shook hands.

Her face broke into a shy smile. "Does this mean we're friends?"

"Well," said Scorpius, a little haughtily, "if you wish."

The corners of his mouth twitched slightly.

Rose beamed. Al was going to have a field day.

oOoOoOoOo

**And there we have it, the end of the first year. I hope you enjoyed it, and please review.**


	13. Year Two:Chapter 13

**Thanks to everyone for reading thus far! We're on to year two now…enjoy.**

oOoOoOoOo

"Proxima centauri!"

The Fat Lady swung open, and Scorpius stepped into the (relative) calm of the common room.

To one side, James Potter was exclaiming loudly over the Chudley Cannons 340-0 defeat to the Holyhead Harpies. To another, Patrick Finnegan was desperately trying to put out what was left of his eyebrows.

Scorpius didn't notice any of this, as his nerves were close to breaking point. He was about to do what he had spent the whole summer psyching himself up to do.

He walked forwards to where Rose was laughing with her friend Annabeth Underwood and the other Gryffindor girls, while absentmindedly stroking her huge, hideous cat. If it was a cat, that is.

Crookshanks spotted him, and growled. Not an ideal start to the situation.

"Hello Rose," he began, slightly awkwardly.

The group fell silent. Then the girls he recognised from Albus' fanclub - Amelia Boreatton, Louisa Parry and Maddy Watson – exchanged meaningful glances.

Scorpius suddenly felt very out of his depth. He reminded himself of the Malfoy family honour it was his duty to uphold. He couldn't chicken out now!

Rose smiled at him, and Scorpius hoped his cheeks weren't going red. He couldn't smile back, that was for sure. His face was definitely frozen.

"Rose...I was wondering."

Now to get it over with.

"Will you help me with my Potions homework? I'm really rather stuck on the essay we got last week."

He felt the gazes of the fanclub boring into him. Those girls really were bizarre.

"Yeah, sure," Rose replied slowly. "But Al is loads better at potions than me. Why don't you ask him?"

Scorpius frowned slightly. He was quite sure this was a lie - Rose was pretty much top of the class in every subject.

"Alright then," he said stiffly, then added, "See you."

Fuming at himself, he walked briskly over to where Albus was sitting, hearing the fanclub explode into more giggles behind him.

He cursed._ Now _he looked like an idiot.

oOoOoOoOo

Rose watched Scorpius walk away with a sinking feeling. Why had she brushed him off like that? When she had seen him approach, she'd panicked, and then blurted out some rubbish about Al being better at potions.

Her behaviour had been utterly ridiculous. She often hung out with Scorpius; it wasn't like she was nervous around him or something.

Rose hoped she hadn't hurt his feelings. To be honest, you could never quite tell what Scorpius was thinking.

His grey eyes were just so unreadable.

oOoOoOoOo

Albus was surprised when Scorpius asked him to help with potions homework, as both of them had no problems with the subject - but he agreed all the same. Scorpius dropped into an armchair beside him, and Albus pulled out his books.

As their pens scratched over parchment, Al couldn't help noticing that Scorpius didn't actually seem to be concentrating on the homework at all; he kept glancing over to where Rose was sitting.

"You _like_ Rose, don't you?" asked Albus in a teasing voice.

"What makes you think that?" Scorpius stared pointedly at his parchment, utterly engrossed in his essay.

A bit _too_ engrossed in his essay, Albus thought, seeing as Scorpius hated potions.

Al chuckled to himself as he finished his essay… and Scorpius got the horrible impression that he was concocting some sort of evil plan.

oOoOoOoOo

**Please review and tell me what you think. **


	14. Year Two:Chapter 14

The bell rang, signalling the end of the lesson.

Whopee! thought Albus. Another torturous history of magic lesson finally finished! He looked across to Rose, who looked genuinely disappointed that the lesson was over.

"I found that lecture really interesting," said Rose as they left the classroom. "I mean, Emeric the Evil's family tree...fascinating."

Albus rolled his eyes. "What do you think about the "Your Family Tree" homework?"

"Oh, fun," said Scorpius sarcastically. "I can count how many Death Eaters I'm related to."

"Oh, Scorpius," sighed Rose.

Albus had been surprised this year to discover that the often silent Scorpius concealed a scathing wit to match his own.

Suddenly Rose's face brightened, and she clapped a hand to her forehead. "Let's go to the library! I can't believe I didn't think of that before - there must be loads of books about wizardring family trees. You know that the Weasleys and the Malfoys are some of the oldest pure blood families..."

"Rose, calm down," laughed Albus. "You know, I bet someone really sad has written a Complete Guide to the History of Harry Potter and done my homework for me..."

"Wouldn't it be weird if we were related," mused Scorpius.

oOoOoOoOo

Rose pulled a promising looking book from a shelf. It was called Wizardring Families Through the Ages.

"Hey Rose," said Scorpius. "Are you sure you've got all the books you want?"

He pointed to the ever growing stack on the floor, which came up to his waist.

"You're right," gasped Rose. "I haven't got any from that area of the library yet!"

"Guys," came the voice of Albus from the next aisle. Rose and Scorpius rounded the corner, where Albus stood holding a pile of huge bottle green books.

Rose felt horrified. Albus had more research than she did!

"You know when I said I bet someone has done my homework for me?."said Albus. "Well I wasn't really expecting to find The Complete Guide to the History of Harry Potter, by Dennis Creevey!"

He shoved a pile of huge leather bound books into Scorpius' arms.

"Six volumes?" spluttered Scorpius.

"Yes, I thought these ones would be more essential. The other thirty eight are up on that shelf."

oOoOoOoOo

The trio had taken up the entire floor of the Gryffindor common room with books, parchment and ink bottles (all of which, despite Roses' reprimands, had their lids off). Rose and Scorpius were helping each other write out their ancestors, while Albus was engrossed in Volume 43 of The Complete Guide.

"Wow, Scorpius, you're not the only one with evil Death Eaters in the family-I mean, you'll never guess who Grandma's third cousins were-"

"You're not helping, Albus," Rose sighed.

"Gosh, those three sisters had really weird names…seriously…Andromeda?"

"Shut up, Al!"

Albus, ignoring Rose, followed the line down from one of the strangely named sisters. He got all the way to the bottom...

...and froze.

"Hey Scorpius!" he called out. "You'll never guess what-we're related!"

The entire common room fell silent.

"Oops," muttered Albus.

"What?" roared James, shooting up from his armchair. "You mean I'm related to … gimmee that!" He yanked the book from Albus. He stared at it , then at Albus, and then he glared at Scorpius, as though he'd committed some atrocious crime.

Albus figured that as far as James was concerned, Scorpius had.

James snapped the book shut. "I'm disowning him already," he snarled.

Rose jumped up, eyes blazing, and Albus quailed. "What's the big deal, James?" she asked, voice deceptively soft.

James seemed to shrink under gaze. But then he remembered who he was – the son of Harry Potter – and straightened up.

"I'm disowning him," he said, "because he's a Malfoy."

Rose's face went beetroot red, and James suddenly felt very small.

"Just because you, you arrogant toe-rag, think you're god's gift to the universe, does not give you the right to judge people before you've even bothered to know them!" Rose snarled. "Scorpius has never hurt a hair on your head - - and yet you decide to hate him because of some ridiculous feud our parents had?" Rose was so furious she could barely splutter out her words. "Apologise at once!"

James looked as though she'd asked him to lick Goyle the Gamekeeper's boots. "No!"

The Gryffindor house watched in amazement as Rose Weasley slapped James Potter round the face.

Rose stormed out like a tornado. Or rather, thought Albus with admiration, like Grandma Weasley.

For a few seconds, everyone there was stunned silence. Albus and Scorpius looked at each other. They both wore the same expression – one of utter amazement.

"Ow," said James, from where he was lying on the floor. "That really hurt!"

oOoOoOoOo

**Thanks for reading, please review. **


	15. Year Two:Chapter 15

It was lunchtime in the great hall, and Albus was busy helping himself to treacle tart, when someone tapped him on the shoulder.

"Here comes your fan club," whispered Rose, as three giggly girls approached the table where he was sitting. He sighed, and turned to see the blonde Louisa Parry.

"Um...Albus," she giggled breathlessly. "I was wondering if you would...um..." she trailed off and her two friends, Maddy and Amelia, started giggling. Again. Rose rolled her eyes.

"Will you go out with me?" Louisa blurted, subtle as always.

"No!" Albus yelled. "I mean, I, er, don't want a girlfriend."

Louisa burst into tears, and fled from the hall, quickly followed by Maddy and Amelia, who gave Albus reproachful looks.

"Did someone say girlfriend?" said James, popping up from nowhere as he always did in painful situations. It was a trait he shared with Rose's brother, Hugo. Scorpius jumped three feet and spilt custard down his robe.

"I did," muttered Albus. James raised his eyebrows expectantly.

"Don't ask," Rose sighed, exasperated. She was still annoyed at him for his comments about Scorpius two weeks ago.

"Too bad, I'm asking. What's this about Albus having a girlfriend?"

"Nothing!" cried Albus. "And I don't have a girlfriend, _and _I don't want a girlfriend!" He slammed down his spoon. "They only like me because I look like dad - "

"You _do_ look like dad - "

"I hate it! I'm not dad! I'm my own person, and I'm fed up of people expecting me to be like him!" He yanked off his glasses. "From now on, I'm not wearing glasses. And I'm never getting on a broom stick again."

"Sheesh, Al, you're not even a teenager yet…talk about wizard angst!"

"James," interrupted Rose. "You're not helping." She turned to Albus and Scorpius. "Come on guys, it's Transfiguration in a minute." She frowned at Al, who scowled back, defiantly glasses free. "Al, can you actually see like that?"

"Yeah, course I can," said Albus, standing up quickly, tucking the offending glasses into his pocket.

"How many fingers am I holding up?" asked James.

"Four," said Albus.

"Actually," James replied, "It's two."

Albus, however, had already left the hall.

oOoOoOoOo

As she entered the Transfiguration classroom, Rose heard the thud of someone walking into the doorframe behind her.

"Ow!" spluttered a voice. "Son of a banshee!"

"Put your glasses back on, Al," Rose sighed.

oOoOoOoOo

**Tell me honestly: how bad are the gags? Yes I did quote Potter Puppet Pals at least twice in this chapter. :P**

**If you've got any constructive criticism, or hate mail, I'd love to hear it in a review even more than I would praise. **


	16. Year Two: Chapter 16

**Apologies it's taken so long to update! This is going to be the last chapter, I'm afraid that despite our planning UltimateGryffindork and I simply don't have the time or inclination to bring it to its full seven-year potential.**

**Thank you to everyone who's stuck with this story.**

**oOoOoOo**

'Wakey wakey, rise and shine!'

'W...What...' said Scorpius groggily, forcing his eyes to open. He had been having a very strange dream in which he was running through the Forbidden Forest chasing Rose as James Potter shouted insults from behind him, whilst wearing a tea cosy on his head.

He sat up and rubbed his eyes.

It was the 18th of November - his birthday. Oh Merlin, he was officially a teenager.

'Presents!' Albus yelled, and threw one at his head. Scorpius ducked as it exploded into pieces of brightly coloured wrapping paper, and flying chocolate frogs. A card fluttered to the floor and the frogs, to Scorpius extreme surprise, began hopping off in different directions and croaking. 'Al, watch out!'

'Whoops,' said Al, hastily snatching up escaping frogs and glancing at the card. 'Oh no. They're from Rose; Merlin's pants she's going to kill me…' He flung himself at a frog which was about to make a quick getaway under his bed. 'A little help here!' he said breathlessly.

Scorpius laughed and pushed himself off the bed; crouching on the floor he made sweeping motions with his arms to guide the frogs together.

'Here, froggy froggy,' said Al, unfolding his spare blanket and dropping it over them. 'Gotcha,' he said, as the billowing folds muffled the croaking. 'What do we do with them now?'

Scorpius bundled up the blanket and shoved it into his suitcase. 'Let's just hope I remember to eat them before they melt.'

Al had the decency to look sheepish.

Scorpius shook his head with an exasperated smile and reached down to take the next present off the pile.

'Open mine next,' said Al.

Scorpius pulled off the wrapping paper to find a small, pink bottle on which was written _Melinda Doveday's Loquacious Love Liquor: Guaranteed_ _to get that special someone dreaming of you all night! (as advertised in Witch Weekly, Doveday Potions Ltd are not responsible for the adverse consequences that may ensue as a result of gross infatuation.)_

Albus burst out laughing at the abject horror on Scorpius' face.

'Just kidding, that's an empty bottle I filled with sherbet powder. This is your real present,' he added, shoving a parcel into Scorpius' arms. 'Happy Birthday!'

It was a _Weaseleys Wizard Wheezes Selection Box!_

"Wow, thanks Al," said Scorpius and opened the box, which promptly squirted water in his face.

Stunned, he sat there dripping as Albus split his sides laughing. Then he threw himself forwards and opened the box in Al's face face – within seconds they were running around the dormitory laughing like maniacs, squirting water at everyone and waking them all up.

After apologising to their soaked and slightly annoyed dormitory mates, Scorpius decided to take the rest of his presents downstairs and open them in the common room.

He'd barely stepped of the stairs when Rose flung her arms around him. 'Happy birthday, Scorpius!'

'Thanks, Rose,' said Scorpius, feeling slightly awkward, and she pulled her arms back.

'So,' said Rose, 'did you like my present? I charmed them myself.'

'I loved it, but Al managed to…'

Albus elbowed Scorpius in the ribs.

'Al managed to what?' Rose frowned.

'Al managed to drench half the dorm with a squirting charm inside the box of _Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes_ he gave me,' Scorpius covered smoothly.

'You're totally bonkers,' Rose smothered a giggle.

'You know you love me,' Al said with a huge cheesy wink, tugging on Scorpius' pyjama sleeve. 'Come on, let's open the rest of your presents.'

**oOoOoOo**

Sitting on the common-room floor, Scorpius surrounded himself in shreds of wrapping paper, while other Gryffindors paused to congratulate him on their way to breakfast.

'What have you got from your parents?' asked Al.

Scorpius' face fell. There wasn't a present from his parents.

'Scorpius? Hey, what's up?'

Scorpius stared down at the colourful shreds of paper and brand new gifts on the floor. Surely, surely he'd left a present upstairs - his parents wouldn't have forgotten him. They _couldn't_ have forgotten him…could they?

'I…I… haven't got one from my parents.'

Al frowned. 'That's weird. It must have got lost in the post.' He poked Scorpius with a cheerful smile. 'You know what those stupid wizards down at the sorting office are like – always striking - always demanding compensation for owl attacks…'

'Don't worry,' said Rose, 'they won't have forgotten you, you'll see. It may well come in the owl post.' She smiled at him and looked so sure that Scorpius managed to smile weakly back.

'You know,' said James, popping up from nowhere as usual, 'My dad -'

'_Our_ dad,' muttered Albus, rolling his eyes.

'My dad,' continued James obliviously, 'never got presents from his Aunt and Uncle. Even if they did remember his birthday, he'd only ever get a tissue or an old coat hanger. But he didn't complain at all though – even though they were cruel and neglectful and…'

'Aren't you going to wish Scorpius happy birthday?' asked Rose, and edge in her voice.

'Why should I, if even his own parents didn't bother?' said James casually.

'James!' Rose gasped, too shocked to give any other response. Scorpius got to his feet; this day had just gotten terrible, and he was sick of James' arrogance and constant derision.

'You know what,' he said, staring James square in the eyes, 'I don't care whether you wish me happy birthday or not.' He smirked. 'I wouldn't care if you decided to jump off the Astrology tower. In fact, the best present you could give me would be to shut up, and go waste your life trying to annoy someone else.' He raised both his eyebrows. 'That's if your tiny brain can even comprehend what I'm talking to you about.'

'I-what?' said James.

'Exactly,' said Scorpius.

**oOoOoOo**

'Sorry about my brother being such a git,' said Al, as they were eating breakfast. 'You should really try standing up to him more often.'

'Hmm,' said Scorpius, poking absent-mindedly at a pile of creamy, hot scrambled egg. Despite Rose's words, he felt slightly sick. He tried to tell himself to stop being ridiculous - he was 13 years old, and upset because of a birthday present? Maybe his parents hadn't sent him anything on purpose. I mean, he knew they loved him and all, but they weren't always overly affectionate. But they hadn't even sent him a card…

Suddenly, a whooshing and hooting swept through the hall; the owl post had arrived.

A large, tawny owl swooped low over the Gryffindor table, dropping a long, thin package above where the three friends were sitting.

'What the -'

With a crash it landed in a porridge tureen, spraying gloopy lumps all over Albus.

Scorpius dragged the whatever-it-was out of the now half empty tureen, and Rose used a quick charm to clear up the mess, which was mainly dripping from Al's hair. She left, however, a large blob on his nose, and asked as though she hadn't noticed.

'It's for me!' Scorpius said, tearing off a small card which was attached to the brown paper wrapping.

'And brooms can fly and I'm a wizard - _course_ it's for you! What does it say?' asked Albus, craning over to read it, blob of porridge on his nose wobbling precariously.

'Our darling Scorpy...'

'_Scorpy?'_ spluttered Albus.

'Sorry - must have read that wrong,' Scorpius blushed furiously. Rose smiled. Suddenly, the card whipped itself out of Scorpius' hands and hung in the air, proceeding to read out its message in the smooth, cultured tones of Astoria Malfoy.

'_Our darling Scorpy,_

_We wish you a most wonderful Happy Birthday! Your father and I can't believe that you're a teenager already – my, you're growing up fast into a capable young man. We do so hope you'll like your present, and be sure to have a lovely day._

_Much love, your Mum and Dad._

_PS. Mr Tinkles says how do.'_

'See, I knew they wouldn't forget you!' said Rose. Scorpius breathed a sigh of relief; she'd been right of course. 'Who's Mr Tinkles?'

'Our cat,' Scorpius explained, 'He's evil, trust me.'

'It's the right shape...it's a broom, it's got to be!' breathed Al, who was running his hands over Scorpius' package. The blob on his nose remained unnoticed.

Scorpius gingerly began opening the suspiciously shaped package; most of the surrounding Gryffindor table was staring at it…and at Albus' nose.

Grinning like a maniac, Scorpius carefully slid out the present-

-it _was_ a broom. But not just any broom

'Merlin's baggy y-fronts,' yelled Albus. 'It's a Stormstreaker 2020!'

There was a crash as James fell off the bench.

'Wow,' gasped Scorpius, not believing the beautiful thing in his hands could belong to him. The long brown handle was made of smooth, glossy wood; every twig grafted to the end straight and even. It shivered under his touch as though it couldn't wait to shoot off into the sky.

It was _awesome_.

"C...can I touch it?" said Albus, eyes round and rapturous.

'I wouldn't,' said Rose.

'Oh...the memory wood,' said Al, disappointed, 'I forgot.'

Scorpius frowned. 'Memory wood?'

Al clapped a hand to his forehead. 'Honestly Scorp – you just get given the most groundbreaking British model since the original Firebolt, and you don't even know about _memory wood?'_

Rose shifted on the bench and Scorpius knew it was lecture time. 'What with you actually now _owning_ an example of this, it's about time you found out,' she said primly, and her voice switched into textbook mode, 'memory wood is a relatively new concept in broom making, but a very useful one.' She reached out a finger and pointed along the handle. 'The wood used for the brooms is enchanted while it's still growing, to recognise and remember the touch of whoever first holds it. You can literally imprint yourself into the wood - which means that whoever handles it before it is bought must be extremely careful, and wear gloves at all times'

'Had huge delivery failures when they first experimented with the concept,' Al chipped in, 'New owners getting a nasty shock when their brooms rejected them and tried to fly back to the shopkeepers.' The dollop of porridge on his nose quivered as he became more and more animated, and Scorpius he couldn't tear his eyes away from it. 'I heard one lady got thrown off over the centre of muggle London -'

Rose cleared her throat and Al was quiet. 'Once you've imprinted yourself on the broom,' she continued, 'It'll recognise your touch and will work at its best with you. Like Al said, given a choice it will only ever fly with you. The ownership of the broom becomes indisputable, which is useful if it is ever stolen; obviously you have to do is perform a few simple charms to reveal the true owner and who else has handled it in the mean time, though of course I find it shocking that some people would be so low and foolish as to try and steal a memory-wood broom...'

'Broom theft,' said Albus smugly, 'has dropped by over three quarters in the past four years.'

'Wow,' breathed Scorpius. 'I've _always_ wanted my own league-standard broom.'

He realised that most of the students in Gryffindor were still staring, both at his broom and at Albus' nose. There were several giggles.

'I've no idea what they think's funny about a broom, but at least they're not staring at me for once,' said Albus.

'Should I tell him?' mouthed Scorpius.

'No,' Rose mouthed back. 'Treat it as an extra present.'

Scorpius grinned.

**oOoOoOoOo**

**Thanks so much for hanging in there all of you, I've had fun polishing up this old baby – it was the first fic I ever wrote, back when UltimateGryffindork and I were 14.**

**It'd mean the world to me if you could leave one final review...go on. ;)**


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